Where would Christmas be without the Christmassy beverages for toasting the season and sharing a cup of good cheer?

Along with foods like gingerbread and Panatone, drinks like hot chocolate and mulled cider

help to make the season uniquely flavorful and festive.

But the most Christmassy beverage of all just may be that sweet, golden, creamy concoction

served with a sprinkling of nutmeg and a cinnamon stick for stirring in the rum or brandy.

We've been drinking some version of eggnog since medieval times, even though it wasn't always

called eggnog, and even though the eggnog we drink today bears little to no resemblance to its

forebears.

But few things are as quintessentially Christmassy as the taste of eggnog, and I'm perfectly

fine with the version we have now.

I'm not sure I'd want to try any of the older versions, honestly. But where did eggnog, and I'm perfectly fine with the version we have now. I'm not sure I'd want to try any of

the older versions, honestly. But where did eggnog come from? How did taxes and trade help shape

the modern drink? And what does the word nog mean anyway? Come with me on a tasty and boozy

trip back in time. I'm Brian Earle. This is Christmas Past.

Here are two things we know to be true.

Number one, as far back as the late 17th century in England,

there was a strong beer known as nog.

And number two, going back hundreds of years earlier than that in England,

certain alcoholic drinks were served in small carved wooden mugs called noggins.

Now, here's the part we don't know.

We don't know whether the word eggnog is in reference to number one or number two.

There's even a third option. According to at least one historian, the word eggnog is a

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